"Good" Blastor Infects Network

The Shrew

Graduate

Posts: 247

Loc: Florida

3+ Months Ago

Today my county's school network crashed due entirely in part to the "good" Blaster. Someone must have brought an infected computer to work and spread it onto the network. From there it spread across the school network, hitting every unpatched Windows NT computer. After they had been infected, the Blaster varient made them all attempt to patch at once, causing a county wide network crash. So at the moment the network is back up, probably only because the NT computers are turned off. Can anyone guess what I get to do for the next few days? I get to help patch around 700 computers. Now is when I thank the creator of the "good" Blastor. Thank you, you jackass.

mnmarkm

Student

Posts: 82

Loc: Cloquet, Minnesota

3+ Months Ago

Eh... Job Security comes to mind....

The Shrew

Graduate

Posts: 247

Loc: Florida

3+ Months Ago

Yay! Today we finally finished patching all of my school's computers for welchia. It took about 15 min for each computer and teachers couldn't be trusted to do it themselves.

musik

Legend

Posts: 6891

Loc: up a tree

3+ Months Ago

we've spent a lot of money and time fixing viruses on our work server - we are getting better at tightening security though.

Heart

Expert

Posts: 633

Loc: Welcome To, Crazy World!

3+ Months Ago

thank god for norton... I seriously think the more i try to prevent viruses the more I get... hmmm

musik

Legend

Posts: 6891

Loc: up a tree

3+ Months Ago

ya know its funny - i use the internet ALOT from home - ive had a computer for as long as I can remember - ive never had anti virus software installed - just the free zone alarm firewall.

ive never had a virus (touch wood) even the blaster worm didnt get a lookin.

i think what it comes down to is how you set your computer up - in my email i disabled the preview pane which is one main cause of people getting viruses - the other thing is a good firewall like Zone Alarm which blocks access to your computer from those scanning for open ports.

the other thing i am extremely pedantic about the emails i open and those i delete without reading. most people now who i deal with know that if they are going to email me something they need to clearly mark in the subject what it is so when it comes i am always expecting it.

im not saying i am 100% protected to not getting them (i got an alert from a free font site popup at work) so needless so say - had i been at home maybe i would have gotten it. Anyhoo - im just ramblin cuz im bored and noone is online!

la la laaaaa

viruses suck!

Heart

Expert

Posts: 633

Loc: Welcome To, Crazy World!

3+ Months Ago

yeah thank god I never had any REAL BIG NASTY VIRUSES! But, I tend to get thoughs little annoying viruses that piss ya off more than anything.. Most likey you do have viruses but you just dont notice them... I have a crap load of stuff to protect my self..

But, I mean most likey you do have viruses but usually they dont do alot and you just cant really tell they are there.. Its little things like your computer running a little slower than normal, sertain programs not working properly, ect... Most viruses dont really hurt anything but some can.. It pays to take caution..

musik

Legend

Posts: 6891

Loc: up a tree

3+ Months Ago

I do regular scans with that housecall antivirus service - its never picked anything up before and its pretty upto date. But like ya say you never know

Heart

Expert

Posts: 633

Loc: Welcome To, Crazy World!

3+ Months Ago

hmm that is really odd..

musik

Legend

Posts: 6891

Loc: up a tree

3+ Months Ago

not particulary...

Heart

Expert

Posts: 633

Loc: Welcome To, Crazy World!

3+ Months Ago

hmm.. its just that I have all this crap to prevent me from getting viruses and i still do.. btw.. i just noticed i won the ozzu logo.. Aint i cool? lol..

musik

Legend

Posts: 6891

Loc: up a tree

3+ Months Ago

what ozzu logo? heh

anyhoo - well i am just anal over what I allow access to my computer and what I don't, I have spam email addresses which helps to keep my proper email account free from viruses and the billions of spam which like to send to you fifty million times a day. The other thing I avoid are being a part of those annoying "Forwarded" messages. People love to send around those "fun" little games .exe progs which usually contain some little nasty for your computer and you dont even know it.

The firewall - I find blocks everything. I use zone alarm - its better than the XP built in firewall. To test yours you can do a self port scan at: https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 - the best one is the full port scan. Will give you an indication as to how safe your computer is. My test results are all stealth, which basically means when people are scanning ports it doesnt look like a computer is connected to the net let alone any computer being there at all.

I find a lot of cool information on keeping your computer safe from the bad guys and programs at http://www.grc.com they are a very reputable company.

b_heyer

Web Master

Posts: 4580

Loc: Maryland

3+ Months Ago

He means the lotto.

Heart, could you please take a few momments to read over posts before you post, sometimes you have a few typos that throw off a whole thought. Just trying to keep ideas clear!!!

musik

Legend

Posts: 6891

Loc: up a tree

3+ Months Ago

Ahhh! Congratulations mate!!

dr nick

Proficient

Posts: 263

Loc: Frankfurt

3+ Months Ago

Yeah, I'm usually clean with viruses too, and I don't even use a firewall. The biggest source for viruses is either from email, or any executable where you don't know for sure 'where its been'. Since I usually connect to email remotely over a terminal (I use pine), the only one possibly getting infected is my university

I had a TON of spyware stuff though. Urgh. Now that Google Toolbar can also block pop-ups, I hope this will improve. Otherwise be sure to run ad-aware occasionally on your computer.